Grading or separating machine.



W. D. MACKRILL.

GRADING 0R SEPARATING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9, 1915- 1.,1'?3,36, Patented Feb. 29,1916.

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GRADING OR SEPARATING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9,1915.

Patented Feb. 29,1916.

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GRADING 0R SEPARATING MACHINE.

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z a Eon 9 E 5 WILLIAM D. MACKBILL, OF FRESNO, CALIFORNIA.

GRADING OR SEPARATING MACHINE.

Application filed June 9, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM D. MACK- mLL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fresno, in the county of Fresno and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grading or Separating Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My present invention relates broadly to new and useful improvements in grading or separating machines, of the type which are employed in separating the constituents of loose materials in bulk into desired grades, and has particular reference to the provision of a machine of this general character which is especially designed and adapted for use in grading olives.

()ne of the leading objects of the invention is to construct an olive separator in which a mixture of olives ranging in size from extremely. small ones to the large and choice fruit may be graded in such manner, bv a number of independent grading sections, that the largest and choicest grade of the fruit will be first removed from the mixture, the next largest and consequently the next choicest grade next removed from the mixture, and so on until each separate grade has been removed and nothing but the refuse and those olives which are too small for commercial purposes remain in the mixture.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide an olive grader consisting broadly in a number of independent sets of grading rollers, each set being adapted to remove from the mixture of olives, one particular grade, and to associate with the several grading sections, a plurality of independent discharge conveyers which serve to remove from the machine into suitable receptacles, each grade of olives.

In connection with the above stated objects, the present invention aims to provide a single conveyer belt which is common to all of the grading sections and is so mounted in the machine that it is adapted to receive from each section, the mixture which passes therethrough and to convey this mixture on to the next grading section.

A furth r obje t i to on tr c th g adi g ro ler 11, u h mann r tha hile hey wi l eifi i ntly perform th function of I e- .m ving f om the certain g a ethey will not, in ,so doin time eithe the o ives fth emcee whi h Specification of Letters Patent.

mi ture an olives oi Patented Feb. 29, 1916.

Serial No. 33,118.

they remove or the remaining grades which pass through the section, as a mixture.

A further object of the invention is to so construct the grading rollers that they act not only to remove from the mixture all olives of a certain grade, but also serve to convey those olives which they separate from the mixture into a receiving trough.

A concluding object of the invention and one of equal importance with the foregoing, is to construct a machine which'is capable of obtaining all of the objects above stated, but nevertheless is simple in construction, and is therefore, capableof being manufactured and operated at a relatively low cost.

The above, and other incidental objects of a similar nature, which will be hereinafter -more specifically treated are accomplished by such means as are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, I described in the following specification, and then more particularly pointed out in the claims which are appended hereto and form part of this application.

With reference to the 'drawin s, wherein there has been illustrated the pr ferred embodiment of this invention, as it is reduced to practice, and throughout the several views of which similar reference numerals designate corresponding parts, Figurel is a top plan view; Fig. 2 is a side elevation; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section taken me dially and vertically through the machine; Fig. 4 is a detail view in transverse section, diagrammatically illustrating the manner in which the worm rollers and cylinders of each grader section act to separate the grade of olives; Fig. 5 is a detail view, diagramthe worm roller actuating shafts of the ma-' chine and the feed belt are driven from a common power source; Fig. 6 is a detail view in longitudinal section of one of the worm rollers; and Fig. 7 is a detail view disclosing the manner in which the discharge troughs and feed belt are associated in each grader section.

The preferred embodiment of the iuven tion, which is best shown as an operative entirety in Fig. 1 of the drawings, consists broadly in a supporting structure; a pluml 'ty of grad which ar mounted therein; a feed be t wh h i so rel t d o th Se ,eral g ad r tha t il on y he mixture of Oli e o d-i fi rent sizes hich Pas e throng-. 1 the first grader or. o the second grader, the remaining portion of the mixture which passes through the second grader to the third grader and soon, until the batch of olives has been completely separated into the desired'numberof grades; and a plurality of independent discharge troughs, each ofwhich is associated with one of the graders and is accompanied by a discharge belt by means of which the different grades of olives may be discharged from the side 'of the machine into 'a plurality of receptacles.

The supporting structure includes a number of connected units,-each of which is provided to support one of the graders and is of such height that the grading element which it supports, is arranged-below the plane of' 1 the preceding grading elements.

The "supporting structure for the first grader, which member is designated generally by the letter A, consists of four corner posts 10, which are of equal height and receive a preferably rectangular frame'll, in which the grading rollers, grading cylinder, discharge trough, and feeder'belt are mounted, as will be presently explained. The corner posts 10 are mounted-upon'a'pair of parallel sills 12 which latter-members are of a length equal to the length of the entire ma 30.

the corners posts of all of the graders.

chine,'whereby they 'serve as supports for The supporting frame for the second grader, which member is generally designatedfby the letter B, includes twocorner posts 13 and a rectangular frame 14. The' frame 14 is supported at its forward endon I thev upper terminals of theposts 13 and is secured by bolts or e uivalent fastening devices to the forwar ly located corner posts 10,

The two-remaining grading sections of the machine which are designated, as entireties in Fig. 1, by the letters C and D, are supported by pairs of posts 15 and 16 and rectangular frames 17 and 18. The member 17' is secured at its rear endto the posts 13 and is mounted at its forward end upon .the posts 15; while the frame 18 is secured through the grader A may drop down to the feed belt and be carried forwardly by this member for deposit upon the grader B and the unassorted olives which pass through the grader B may be carried forwardly and be deposited upon the grader C and so on until the mixture of olives has passed through the entire machine.

Before proceeding with the detail descrippreferred embodiment of my invention has, therefore, been designed to meet this requirement.

In taking up the detail description of the grading mechanism, it is to be first explained that the four graders A, B, C and D are all substantially similar inconstruction and differ only in the extent to which the worms of the grading rollers are pitched and the distance which the rollers are separated from the fixed cylinders, as will hereinafter become more apparent.

Referring now particularly to Fig. 1, it

will be seen that the grader A includes a cylinder 19, and a pair of rollers 20 and 21. The cylinder 19 is preferably formed from a length of brass tubing which is terminally mounted in the transverse bars 22 and 23 -of the frame 11. longitudinally with respect to the machine and is centrally located within the frame '11.. The'rollers 20 and 21 are located on opposite sides of the cylinder and are disposed in parallel spaced relation thereto. The two' rollers are equi-distantly spaced from the cylinder, in order that all olives. except those of one size or grade, may pass down through the space between each roller and the cylinder. The terminals of the rollers are provided with stub axles or trunnions 24. which members are journaled in bearings 25 mounted upon the bars 22 and 23.

The rollers 20 and 21 are similar in construction and are preferably formed from brass or metal tubing, although wood or a composition may be employed, if desired. Upon the face of each roller is formed a helical worm 26, as in Fig. 4. These worms constitute means whereby those olives which are of too large a size to pass through the space between the rollers and the cylinders are moved forwardly and deposited in the discharge trough 27. Preferably the pitch of the helix described by each worm is equal to the space between the cylinder 19 and the roller. It has been found that with this construction, less damage is done in the way of bruising and the like to the olives, than by any other construction of a similar nature.

The rollers are of considerably greater diameter than the cylinder 19 so that their upper surfaces lie in a plane considerably above the plane of the upper surface of the The member 19 extends) cylinder, whereby they may constitute in connection with the cylinder, a trough so that the olives which are fed on the grader through the hopper IE, will follow a true p t and i l n sp ll o er the outer de f the rellerv The discharge trough '27 extends transversely with respect to the machineand is, as best shown in Fig. 3, disposed below the frame 11, position to receive the olives of the first grade which are carried forward by the rollers 20 and 21. Additional posts indicated at28 are provided to support the terminals of the trough in connection with the posts 10.

Journaled between the posts and 28, at each side of the machine, is a belt drum or roller 29. These members 29 are disposed with their axis of rotation slightly below thebottom wall of the trough 27 so that a continuous conveyer belt 30 which passes around the rollers may be operated across the upper face of the bottom wall of the trough A drive pulley indicated at 31 is driven in a manner to be hereinafter described to actuate the belt, so that this member will cause the olives dropped into the trough 27, by means of the rollers 20 and 21, to move through the trough and out the side of the machine, as in Fig. 1 so that they a may {be discharged into any suitable receptacle-placed beneath the discharge chute indice-ted at 32.

.From the description thus far given, it will now be apparent that if a batch of olives is fed through the hopper E into the trough defined by the rollers 20 and 21 and i the cylinder 19, which members constitute the first grading section A, the largest olives will be separated from the mixture and carried forwardly by the rollers to the discharge trough 27. Obviously, all those olives which are smaller than those of'the first grade will pass down between the rollers and the cylinder and drop on to the feed. belt.

In taking up the description of the feed belt,

reference will now be had particularly" to Fig. 3, wherein this belt is best shown in relation to all of the sections of the machine. The belt is driven from a wheel 33 which is mounted at the lower endof the machine and is driven by an electrical motor or equivalent power source. The lower portion of the belt passes directly to the rear end of the machine and about an idler drum or wheel 34 which is journaled in bearings 35 tw n th r ar dly d po d Pair o posts 10. The wheel is'so disposed that the belt, as passes over the wheel, will travel as indi ed at 6, in e hor z n a plane whi h l cat d imm diately below the ey inder 1.9 and roll r .0 and 2, The pe tien Be at theb ltterminete 'b yead the f et end e the rad r Blbeir Passed ereend idler wheel or drum 37 which is journaled between the forwardly disposed posts 10. Thus, it will be seen that those olives which fall through the spaces between the rollers 20 and 21 and the cylinder 19 will be carried forwardly by the portion 36 of the belt and deposited in the trough defined by the rollers 38 and 39 and cylinder 40 of the grader B.

It is now to be explained-that the rollers and cylinder of the grader .B, the discharge trough 41 and conveyer belt 42, associated therewith are all equivalent to the corresponding elements of the section A previously described. The rollers and cylinders, discharge trough and discharge belt of the sections C and D, are also similar to the corresponding elements of the section A. The only difference between the four graders is the pitch of the worm wires and the width of the space included between the different sets of rollers and their associated cylinders. In this connection, it is to be explained that the pitch of the worms of the rollers in the grader A and the space between these rollers and their accompanying cylinder is greater than the pitch of the worm and the space between the rollers and cylinders of the grader B. The worm and space between the rollers and cylinder of the grader C bears the same relation to the grader B as this member does to the grader A and the grader D bears a corresponding relation to the grader C.

When these olives which pass through the grader A are deposited upon the grader B,

this member acts in the same manner as did the grader A to remove from the mixture of olives the next largest grade which is passed on to the discharge trough 41 and conveyed therefrom by the belt 42. The other olives which pass through the space between the rollers and cylinders of the grader B, are dropped on the portion 43 of the feeder belt. This member is, after passing over the belt wheel 37, rearwardly directed as at 44 and passed about a belt wheel 45 which is located in the rear of the belt wheel 37 and below the plane thereof. The portion 43 of the belt passes forwardly over a belt wheel 46 which is equivalent to the member 37 and then rearwardly directed over a belt wheel 47 which is related to. the member 46, in the same manner as is the belt wheel 45 related to the belt wheel 37. The portion 43 of the belt serves to convey the olives which pass through the grader B on to the grader C.

grad r C e to t e g ader "D'- hle' belt;

afte ee inf h es?! the m mb r 5, i n ardly directedend ass amend a bel wheel 51 and is then carried forwardly, as at 52 into the driven wheel 'or drum: The portion 52 obviously receives the olives and refuse which pass through the grader D. A receptacle of any nature may be placed adjacent to the drive wheel 33 to receive this refuse and accompanying olives which will be all of too small a size to be commercially profitable.

It will now be noted that the portions 36, 43, 49 and 52 of the feed belt are all movable between pairs of longitudinally extending, parallel vertical walls 53 which, as shown best in Figs. 2 and 3, constitute troughs so that the olives, being carried forward by the horizontal portions of the feed belt, may not spill over the sides thereof.

Corning now to the description of the means employed in driving the worm rollers 20 and 21 of each of the grader sections A, B, C and D, the feed belt and the conveyer belts of the discharge troughs, reference will be had particularly to Figs. 1 and 5.. As-

shown, the driving mechanism includes apair of parallel shafts 51 and 55 which extend longitudinally through the machine and are journaled at intermediate points in bearings 56 carried by the vertical posts 10, 28, 13, 15 and 16. These shafts are arranged at the lower ends of the posts and are accompanied at their forward terminals, as in Figs. 3 and 5, by pinions 57 and 58, which are provided with helical teeth. These pinions 57 and 58 are adapted to mesh with the worms 59 and 60 respectively which are keyed upon a horizontal jack shaft 61. The jack shaft 61 is provided at its outer end with a belt wheel 62, about which passes a The belt 63 is connected to an belt 63. engine, motor or equivalent power source for driving the jack shaft. The driving wheel 33 of the feed belt is mounted at the approximate center of the jack shaft 61 and it will, therefore, be obvious that the feed belt will be actuated when the shaft 61 is in operation. The stub axles at the rear ends of the worm rollers in each of the grading sections A, B. C and D are accompanied by pulley or belt wheels, as indicated at 64. The members 64 of the rollers on the righthand side of the cylinders in the several graders are connected by belts 65, as in Fig. 2, with belt wheels 66 which are mounted upon the shaft 54 at intermediate points.

that the worms -59"and 60 are oppositely wound so thatthe pinions 57 and 58 Wlll. rotate in opposite. directions as, indicated by arrows inF-ig. 5. Thus the shafts 54 and 55 rotate in'opposite directions and the left In concluding the description of the draw- 7 bags, I desire to explain that while the rollers and cylinders of each section are shown as being relatively short-in proportion to the width of the machine, such disclosure has been made only because of the necessity of restricting the .vie'ws to the given space upon the sheets. In the actual construction of-the machine, the rollers and cylinders are of considerable length so that the olives will have ample opportunity to pass between the rollers and the associated cylinder, if they aresmaller than the grade which the particular section through which they are passing is intended to separate from the mixture.

In reduction to practice, it has been found that the form'ofthis invention illustrated in the drawings and referred to in the above description as the preferred embodiment is the most ellicient and practical; yet realizing that the conditions concurrent with the adoption of this device will necessarily vary, it is desirable to emphasize the fact of parts may be resorted to, when required,

without sacrificing any of the advantages of this mvention, asdefined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is 1. A grader including a plurality of grading sections, each adapted to remove from a mixture of material one constituent thereof, each of said grading sections including a cylinder, and a pair of worm rollers journaled on opposite sides of the cylinder'and disposed with their axes above the axis of the cylinder whereby to constitute a trough within which the material may be carried.

2. In a grader, a cylinder, a air of oppositely rotatable rollers journa ed on oppo site sides of the cylinder and disposed with their axes above the axis of the cylinder whereby to constitute a trough, and means 3. A grader including a plurality of gradawaaee ing sections, each adapted to remove from a mixture of material one constituent thereof, each of said grading sections including a cylinder, a pair of worm rollers journaled on opposite sides of the cylinder, means for conveying the material which drops through the spaces between the rollers and cylinder on to the rollers and cylinder of the next adjacent grading section, and means for conveying from the machine that constituent of the mixture whichis removed by each grading element.

a. A fruit grader including a plurality of grading sections arranged in stepped relation to each other, the first of said sections being at the greatest elevation and the last of said sections being at the lowest elevation, each of said sections being adapted to remove rrom the mixture of fruit one grade of fruit, and a continuous conveyer belt having its upper flight disposed in stepped planes, each extending beneath and extending along the entire length of one of said grading sections and at its discharge end extending over the next grading section below.

5. A fruit grader including a plurality of grading sections arranged in stepped relation to each other, the first of said sections being at the greatest elevation and the last of said sections being at the lowest elevation, each of said sections being adapted to remove from the mixture of fruit one grade thereof, and means for conveying fruit from one section to the other com rising a continuous belt, a belt wheel disposed at the entrance end of all of said grading sections except the first one, andover which the conveyer successively passes, and a plurality of belt Wheels each disposed rearward of a corresponding first named belt wheel and on a lower level than the corresponding first named belt wheel and over which said conveyer passes whereby to cause the upper flight of the conveyor belt to be arranged in downwardly stepped planes, each plane of the belt discharging upon the entrance end of one of the grading sections, the conveyer then extending rearward and downward over the second named belt wheel and then extending below the next successive grading section and along its entire length.

6. An olive grader including a plurality of grading sections arranged in stepped relation to each other, the first of said sections being of the greatest elevation and the last of said sections being at the lowest elevation, each of said sections being adapted to remove from the mixture of olives one grade of olives, a discharge trough for each grading section to receive the olives removed by this section, a belt mounted in each trough forconveying the olives therefrom, and a conveyer belt mounted to receive from each grader section those olives which pass through the section and to carry them forwardly and to deposit them upon the next adjacent section.

7. An olive grader including a plurality of grading sections, a supporting frame for the sections, said sections being disposed in stepped relation to each other, the first of said sections being arranged at the greatest elevation, each of said grading sections including a relatively fixed longitudinally disposed cylinder, and a longitudinally extending worm roller arranged upon each side of said cylinder in parallel spaced relation thereto, a transversely arranged discharge belt mounted at the forward end of each grader section to receive from the rollers thereof that grade of olives which is removed by the section, and a continuous feed belt passing beneath the grader sections and extending at intermediate points over the rear end of each section, whereby the belt receives from each section those olives which pass through the section and carries said olives on to the next adjacent grader section.

8. An olive grader including a plurality of independent grading sections arranged in stepped relation to each other, the first of said sections being arranged at the greatest elevation, each of said sections including a relatively fixed cylinder, and worm rollers arranged on each side thereof, said rollers being spaced from the cylinder a distance slightly less than the smallest dimension of the olives of the size which thesection is to remove from the mixture, a discharge belt signature in the presence or two witnesses. W lLLlAM D. MACIEELL.

'Witnesses J. F. EWING,

Ror W Bauer. 

